. >> shepard: secretary of defense leon panetta also warns the cuts with hitthepentagonespeciallyhard. while a great deal of the money would come from military training units 000s of civilians could face big pay cuts and even layoffs. particularly in two states. jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us tonight. >> reporter: iif the deep budgt cuts go into effect in 8 days time the hardest hit states will be california and virginia. 17% of the defense cuts in virginia will likely fall on one community known as hampton roads. in fact, the human impact of the sequester on small businesses in this area, these businesses contract to the navy, it is already being felt. tom taylor owns a ship repair business near norfolk. some of his contracts with the navy are already in jeopardy. >> it is not like turning on a picket. you don't turn it on and turn it off. if it is canceled these things are are months or years in the planning stage. if they are canceled they don't come right back, you know. so that is pretty alarming. >> i want to know when am i looking dark am i getting laid off in march or

leadership and a few workers considered essential to maintainthepentagonsecurity.he said, quote, the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department and their scale will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force. house speaker john boehner for his part responding, president obama's ultimately responsible for our military readiness, so it's fair to ask what is he doing to stop his sequester that would hollow out our armed forces, end quote. john kerry also calling on congress to prevent what he calls senseless spending cuts and not just at the pentagon. today secretary kerry gave his first big speech since taking office and james rosen is live at the state department tonight to fill us in on this. what did he say today? >> good evening. this speech was given in advance of secretary kerry's first overseas travel which will be upcoming in a few days. speaking at the university of virginia, secretary kerry emphasized the degree to which america's foreign policy is governed by her economic well-being and said the current budget battle should not cause americans t